Hot tub help needed -all manual currently

[fourjeepin]

I have an older hot tub built into my sunroom. After 8 years of living in the house, I am finally getting to the point I have some time to work on this thing and think it needs some upgrades, but have never owned one. It’s an older tub and all controls run thru the wall into a closet. There is no timer, just breakers.

Shouldn’t I have timers to run the pump and heater a few hours a couple of times a day? Or do these really run 24x7?

It does have a pneumatic switch by the tub to turn on the jets (and hopefully switch the two speed pump from low to high).

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I asked the pool forum and didn’t get much help.

 

[snyder]

That sounds about right for an older tub. You left the heat on all the time. It takes a long time to heat all that water. An insulated cover kept the heat in. An air switch selected the jets, maybe a bubbler. Two speeds. Yup, thats the way they were.

 

[fourjeepin]

That sounds about right for an older tub. You left the heat on all the time. It takes a long time to heat all that water. An insulated cover kept the heat in. An air switch selected the jets, maybe a bubbler. Two speeds. Yup, thats the way they were.

Thanks - good to know I’m not alone in trying to solve for this. Any suggestions on what to run or where to go for help?

 

[PhysicsDude]

You're going to have to open up the side covers of the hot tub and see what you have.

If it has air switches, it has some sort of control module somewhere. The older ones had a dial timer thing, and an analog thermometer you would set. 95% of hot tubs have the controller integrated with the heater, so you'll see an ~18" section of metal 2" pipe (heater) with a ~12"x12" electrical box thing on top of it. I've seen more than 1 hot tubs that were "inherited" which supposedly worked but just need "some wiring" or whathave you, that had the wrong type of pump installed.

You can upgrade to a digital controller, 95% of hot tub controllers are the same form factor and plugs, so its pretty easy to replace one. A new digital controller and "digital top side control" are in the ballpark of $400.

A wifi-enabled controller would be super awesome. Part of the PITA of a hot tub is waiting for it to heat up, making sure the filter is on, etc. Being able to turn that stuff on remotely would really ad to the usuability of the hot tub, and save you electricity and money in the long term. Unfortuanately, most of the wifi-enabled controllers that I found from a quick google search are in the $800 price range. Just depends on how much you want to spend.

 

[tyme2par4]

I had a hot tub at my house that I demoed because it leaked. On that, the circulation pump ran 24/7, which circulated the water through the filter and the heater. If you wanted the heat on, it would run 24/7 on a temperature switch, so it would cycle on and off as needed.
The jet pump you would just turn on and off when you wanted to use it.

 

[fourjeepin]

Thanks for the advise. I will grab some pictures of the setup and post them over the weekend.

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

the make and model of the tub do make a diffrence as to how tis suppose to work, but generally, where you have a circ pump running to a heater, the heater will have a low flow and a thermal interrupt switch to keep the heater form melting down when the circ pump dies.

 

[fourjeepin]

Updating my thread from a few months back. I found a place called Spa Guts that specializes in replacement controls for tubs. I got a new heater (mine was dead), pump timer, and 3 new air switches for the bubbles, light (don’t have one), and ozone (also don’t have). It cleans the wiring up as it controls everything. Previously, I had a breaker for the heater, a breaker for the pump, and the air switch for the bubbles. Tub is an ancient Jacuzzi brand.

Wiring is almost done. Waiting on a new filter to start plumbing. Last week I sealed the wood deck around the tub, replaced the hardware on the original access panel and built an access panel/made repairs the best I could after the previous owner hacked into the side to access the original air switch.

 

[fourjeepin]

Here’s the sub panel wiring before. Also a before and after of sealing the deck around the tub - it really needed it.

 

[fourjeepin]

Anybody know about 2 speed pumps? The pump motor doesn’t have the wiring diagram on the side. I know one terminal is for high, one for low and the other is common, but which one is which?